Pandemic management is a balancing act.
When an outbreak of infections flares up, governments and authorities need to impose restrictions and recommendations on society that are carefully calibrated to the situation.
On the one hand, during the COVID-19 pandemic, such non-pharmaceutical interventions have considerable benefits by changing the dominant transmission route – close contacts between individuals – via the incentives and information they provide [1]}, [2]}.
On the other hand, these interventions have considerable costs in the form of negative externalities relating to the economy and mental health [3]}, [4]}, [5]}.
